Gonzaga thumps Santa Clara 94-59 to reach WCC championship game

LAS VEGAS — Jeremy Pargo rained his second straight three for Gonzaga a couple of minutes before halftime, and Santa Clara coach Kerry Keating called timeout to rally the troops, now 17 down.

It was just a 30-second break, so Keating probably didn't have time to curse one of the sources of his angst here in the West Coast Conference tournament.

That would be: his dad.

Pops is Larry Keating, senior associate athletic director at the University of Kansas, and in a funky sort of way, he had a little cameo in the Zags' 94-59 demolition of his son's team Sunday night at Orleans Arena here in Sin City.

First, Gonzaga. The Zags (25-5) were at their showy, offensive best in schooling the fourth-seeded Broncos.

"We played great," said coach Mark Few. "If we had efforts like that every night, we wouldn't need to improve on anything."

Of course, it's like that when you're making shots, and the Zags did in spades, making 13 of 22 three-pointers and shooting 56 percent overall.

Defense also stood up, with Josh Heytvelt limiting the 6-foot-11 WCC player of the year, John Bryant, to 13 points and 10 rebounds. The previous night against San Diego, Bryant had 27 rebounds, a number thought to have died with the playing days of Bill Russell and George Mikan.

Elsewhere, Heytvelt's teammates helped create 22 Santa Clara turnovers.

About the only thing that kept the sellout crowd of 7,845 from repairing to the roulette wheel and the blackjack tables was the fact that by an easy majority, the people in the house, maybe 4,500 of them, were Gonzaga partisans.

"I think we all know how Zag fans travel," said Few.

So this is why Gonzaga has been stumping for years to have the tournament on a neutral court.

Through the past decade of GU prominence, the Zags have often had to scrap their way to the NCAA tournament after playing on somebody's home floor, often San Diego or Santa Clara. Meanwhile, only once (2006) has Gonzaga hosted.

"A lot of us have been dreaming about a neutral floor forever," said Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth before Sunday night's game, "where nobody has a home-court advantage."

But the league never could settle on a proper neutral site. Then one night late in 2006, Roth was sitting at home, catching defending national champ Florida battle Kansas — at Orleans Arena.

He put in a call to Keating, got good reviews on the venue, and a campaign was in motion that didn't stop until the good Jesuit presidents of the WCC had given it thumbs-up.

The league had its 2007 summer meetings here, and voilà, the WCC went big-time. On a neutral court, you have to pay rental, but judging from the $55 price tag on a seat for last night's session, the league will do just fine.

Meanwhile, the Orleans Hotel, adjoining the gym and a piece off the famed Strip, agreed not to post odds on any of the tournament games. For any bettors among the readership, the line in other books was 14, which the Zags had covered in the late stages of the first half.

Austin Daye had a career-high 28 points for Gonzaga, shooting 10 of 13 from the field, and the Zags have a finals berth in hand against Saint Mary's.

The crowd rose to a standing ovation with four minutes left and Gonzaga up 40. Asked about the fan support, Few said he had hoped to shield his team off the floor, and added, "It's unbelievable. We snuck into the MGM Grand and they're all over there. It's unreal."

But he shrugged at the notion that he needed to bother with any counsel for his players on things that can sidetrack you here.

"Like, why?" he said. "We played Georgia Tech down here one year, stayed in a casino and played great. These kids all play down here from about their freshman year on [in AAU tournaments], anyway, in spring and summer."

Good vibes, then, at least from the Zags, on playing here. They'd like to think what happens in the WCC stays in Vegas.